Guided Missile Cruisers

In the second half of the 20^th century, the battleship’s obsolescence and the aircraft carrier’s pre-eminence left the cruiser as the most powerful surface combatant in most world navies. The development of naval missile technology led to the rise of guided missile cruisers, with their previously gun-focused armament now dominated by anti-ship and anti-air missile systems. However, cruisers in a time of peace, especially with the cost of new technology in a ravaged post-war economy led to many countries abandoning the ship type in favour of destroyers, frigates, and corvettes.

The nations that did choose to develop the concept are now in possession of some of the most potent surface warships in the world, from the Russian Slava-class to the American Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers and others. Like other types of warships, the size of these ships has grown over some of the smaller World War Two-era vessels, although notably, most cruisers remain smaller than the massive heavy cruisers of the Second World War.

They are equipped for every means of surface combat, featuring powerful artillery, anti-ship and anti-air missiles, anti-submarine weaponry, helicopter facilities and self-defence capabilities. While there aren’t many modern cruiser classes, more are being built and some current destroyers are easily large and powerful enough to be designated as cruisers by most definitions. Despite their cost, the increasing world tension in the last twenty years is only leading to more cruisers (or rather large destroyers that traditionally would be classed as cruisers) being commissioned. This is likely to continue in the near future. 

For this database, guided missile cruisers are defined by the following rules:

• Official classification by their respective navies as such
• The International Institute For Strategic Studies definition of a modern cruiser as a surface combat vessel of at least 9,750 tonnes fully loaded displacement

These rules help explain the inclusion of some vessels on this page, these vessels can also be found on the guided missile destroyers page to avoid confusion. Helicopter cruisers that were armed with guided missiles are also included here, as well as in the aviation cruiser database.